Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2014 9:26:25 GMT -5
Well, I got this e-mail this morning:
Dear Famcfo,
We are writing to provide you advance notice that the price of your Prime membership will be increasing. The annual rate will be $99 when your membership renews on January 27, 2015.
Even as fuel and transportation costs have increased, the price of Prime has remained the same for nine years. Since 2005, the number of items eligible for unlimited free Two-Day Shipping has grown from one million to over 20 million. We also added unlimited access to over 40,000 movies and TV episodes with Prime Instant Video and a selection of over 500,000 books to borrow from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.
For more information about your Prime membership, visit our Prime membership page.
Sincerely,
The Amazon Prime Team
I'm still going to keep it though.
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on Mar 13, 2014 9:27:44 GMT -5
I am noticing that the PRIME prices are now higher than if you search without prime and shipping. So, they just simply are now compensating for the shipping. Doesn't mean it still isn't a decent deal but with the Super Saver Shipping, you don't necessarily need it. So, I am a bit less enamored with it now.
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on Mar 13, 2014 9:28:20 GMT -5
I wouldn't mind free shipping if it took a week. I don't need everything within 2 days. So, if that would make it a cheaper membership that might be worth it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2014 9:33:07 GMT -5
I wouldn't mind free shipping if it took a week. I don't need everything within 2 days. So, if that would make it a cheaper membership that might be worth it. For some things I don't need fast shipping either. For other things (like waiting too long to order gifts), I am now dependent on it. I could give it up, but it is still worth it to me at that price.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Mar 13, 2014 9:38:29 GMT -5
I got the email as well. Still worth it for us since we use the Instant Video stream through our Roku.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2014 9:41:50 GMT -5
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Mar 13, 2014 9:47:14 GMT -5
Yup - I am that powerful. Muuhahahahaha...{{pets evil hairless cat}}
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2014 9:49:48 GMT -5
Yup - I am that powerful. Muuhahahahaha... {{pets evil hairless cat}}So we should all send you a bill for $20? Cool.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Mar 13, 2014 9:52:26 GMT -5
You can send any bills you want - I won't pay them.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2014 10:06:32 GMT -5
Yup - I am that powerful. Muuhahahahaha... {{pets evil hairless cat}}that's hot.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Mar 13, 2014 10:08:21 GMT -5
I wouldn't mind free shipping if it took a week. I don't need everything within 2 days. So, if that would make it a cheaper membership that might be worth it. For some things I don't need fast shipping either. For other things (like waiting too long to order gifts), I am now dependent on it. I could give it up, but it is still worth it to me at that price. I don't need the two day shipping either but it wouldn't be so expensive if they put everything in the order in one box! I always have an order with at least 7 items and damned if they don't put each item in it's own box, and ship it separately.
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Mar 13, 2014 11:06:42 GMT -5
I wouldn't mind free shipping if it took a week. I don't need everything within 2 days. So, if that would make it a cheaper membership that might be worth it. I've had a couple of things still take a week because the ONLY shipping option Prime offered was the 3-5 day one. Maybe because I chose the shipping address that only had my PO Box on it, instead of the one with both POB and physical. I won't be sure until I order something again and I'm trying not to
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Mar 13, 2014 11:34:25 GMT -5
This is a weird thread for me now that I sell on Amazon. Every single item I sell is cheaper than the Prime price. Literally every single one, and I offer free shipping. To be Prime eligible I'd have to ship my items to an Amazon warehouse and pay a pick fee and a pack fee on every sale. Sellers obviously aren't going to eat those fees, so they price them into the products. Buyers pay $80 a year for the privilege of paying more for their items. Makes no sense to me.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2014 12:02:37 GMT -5
This is a weird thread for me now that I sell on Amazon. Every single item I sell is cheaper than the Prime price. Literally every single one, and I offer free shipping. To be Prime eligible I'd have to ship my items to an Amazon warehouse and pay a pick fee and a pack fee on every sale. Sellers obviously aren't going to eat those fees, so they price them into the products. Buyers pay $80 a year for the privilege of paying more for their items. Makes no sense to me. Some items are pricier, but it really depends. I put items in my cart and buy them when they are a good price, so I'm not paying more. Prices go up and down on the items all the time. I just scored some of my favorite tea for way, way cheaper than anywhere else.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Mar 13, 2014 12:17:33 GMT -5
This is a weird thread for me now that I sell on Amazon. Every single item I sell is cheaper than the Prime price. Literally every single one, and I offer free shipping. To be Prime eligible I'd have to ship my items to an Amazon warehouse and pay a pick fee and a pack fee on every sale. Sellers obviously aren't going to eat those fees, so they price them into the products. Buyers pay $80 a year for the privilege of paying more for their items. Makes no sense to me. I would notice that and would buy from the seller who is cheaper for item + shipping. I set up my search so the item that is cheapest for toal cost is top of my list. I don't have prime though so maybe those shoppers are different.
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Mar 13, 2014 13:17:17 GMT -5
Prime shoppers tend to buy whatever is in the buy box. At least that's what I'm picking up from the Amazon sellers forum. As soon as your item is in the buy box you sell 400-500% more. Amazon fulfillment is a big factor in winning the buy box. So, for example, I sell the new Adventure Time Card Wars game. I sell it at $19.99 with free shipping. It's $24.99 in the buy box. That guy is probably selling five times as many copies as I am. The MSRP is $19.99 by the way. All the people buying it at $25 could get it cheaper in their local stores. Amazon lists the MSRP as $29.99 so the guy in the box box can show the percentage savings thing. I've seen that a lot too. Amazon MSRP prices that are higher than the MSRP printed on the packaging so it looks like a savings. I guess nobody really notices when they get their items.
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on Mar 13, 2014 13:23:45 GMT -5
They could offer different levels of Prime. Like 2 day shipping or 1 week shipping or something like that.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2014 13:23:55 GMT -5
Prime shoppers tend to buy whatever is in the buy box. At least that's what I'm picking up from the Amazon sellers forum. As soon as your item is in the buy box you sell 400-500% more. Amazon fulfillment is a big factor in winning the buy box. So, for example, I sell the new Adventure Time Card Wars game. I sell it at $19.99 with free shipping. It's $24.99 in the buy box. That guy is probably selling five times as many copies as I am. The MSRP is $19.99 by the way. All the people buying it at $25 could get it cheaper in their local stores. Amazon lists the MSRP as $29.99 so the guy in the box box can show the percentage savings thing. I've seen that a lot too. Amazon MSRP prices that are higher than the MSRP printed on the packaging so it looks like a savings. I guess nobody really notices when they get their items. people buying through amazon prime are more interested in convenience than price.
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on Mar 13, 2014 13:26:47 GMT -5
Not necessarily. Most everything I purchase from Amazon is cheaper than I can find locally.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2014 13:28:03 GMT -5
Not necessarily. Most everything I purchase from Amazon is cheaper than I can find locally. I still say, if you are buying on amazon prime it is because you don't want to go from store to store, or from website to website trying to save $3. You want to buy it quickly and get it quickly all without leaving you house.
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on Mar 13, 2014 13:30:15 GMT -5
Well, yes, that is true. I hate shopping. But, oftentimes, I see something out shopping and then I check my phone and check amazon and 9/10 times it is the same price or less.
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justme
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Post by justme on Mar 13, 2014 14:01:15 GMT -5
Shooby - the super saving shipping or whatever they call it when you purchase $35 is usually around a week shipping. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower.
I check around before I order Prime shipping items. I usually only buy more expensive items through Prime if it's only $1 or $2 more and I could benefit by the faster shipping. Or if there's only one item less than $35...well I haven't done that yet so I'm not sure whether being Prime bypasses the $35 limit for regular shipping or not.
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econstudent
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Post by econstudent on Mar 13, 2014 20:32:08 GMT -5
Between the streaming video and my Millennial-style need for instant gratification via 2 day shipping , I'm keeping my Prime subscription. I still have a student subscription so mine is only going from $39 to $49. I suppose that when my student version runs out, I'll have to reconsider whether $99/year is worth it. (The same would be true if it were still $79, though.)
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grits
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Post by grits on Mar 13, 2014 20:44:31 GMT -5
Did any of you see the piece on the news about two lawsuits filed against Amazon over the Amazon Prime? One was having the sellers building shipping costs into the price. Then, Amazon would claim free shipping. The other was they'd give preference on their search engine to sellers who did engage in said policy.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Mar 13, 2014 21:03:17 GMT -5
I will be keeping my Prime. I don't like to shop and I also live in rural America. There are some things I just can't find elsewhere.
I do it mostly for convenience. I'd rather buy from Amazon. I have not had good experiences with "fulfilled by Amazon" sellers.
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grits
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Post by grits on Mar 13, 2014 21:06:37 GMT -5
I've had great experience with some filled by Amazon other sellers. I was careful to read all reviews, and to pick out what I wanted.
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Mar 13, 2014 21:45:23 GMT -5
You know that Amazon always sides with the customer if there's a problem with a third party seller right? The seller forums are full of people complaining about sending products with tracking and delivery confirmation, the buyer says it never arrived and Amazon refunds the buyer their money and lets them keep the product. Their buyer friendly policies are borderline ridiculous actually. If you buy from a third party, or self fulfilled, seller and have a bad experience file an AtoZ claim. It takes a couple minutes and Amazon will pretty much always side with you, even if you're lying through your teeth. If you claim the item was counterfeit there's a pretty good chance the seller gets a lifetime ban from selling anything in any category on Amazon.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2014 7:10:48 GMT -5
You know that Amazon always sides with the customer if there's a problem with a third party seller right? The seller forums are full of people complaining about sending products with tracking and delivery confirmation, the buyer says it never arrived and Amazon refunds the buyer their money and lets them keep the product. Their buyer friendly policies are borderline ridiculous actually. If you buy from a third party, or self fulfilled, seller and have a bad experience file an AtoZ claim. It takes a couple minutes and Amazon will pretty much always side with you, even if you're lying through your teeth. If you claim the item was counterfeit there's a pretty good chance the seller gets a lifetime ban from selling anything in any category on Amazon. I'm sure you are right. However, I won't buy from third-party shippers. I bought something with free seller shipping. It was very deceptively pictured by both Amazon and the seller. They photographed the neutral side when it was, in fact, primarily a girl's toy. It was Barbie pink, which doesn't work too well for a seven-year-old boy with lots of boy brothers and cousins to make fun of him. I wanted to return the $25 set unopened. Unfortunately, the free seller shipping becomes paid if you return. Between two set of shipping charges and the restocking fee, the return value was $5. Had I used Prime, I would have only paid the return shipping. Lesson learned. I couldn't have, in good conscience, filed an AtoZ claim. The seller did exactly what Amazon did. But at least Amazon would have provided good customer service.
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Blonde Granny
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Post by Blonde Granny on Mar 14, 2014 7:27:36 GMT -5
There are some things I simply can't find living here in Hill Billy Heaven, so naturally I look at Amazon. The best part of Amazon is not having to pay shipping OR sales tax. I don't order enough however, to spend $99 for next day or 2 day delivery.
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on Mar 14, 2014 7:37:12 GMT -5
Amazon has GREAT customer service. That is why they are so successful.
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